News Release

What motivates 'Facebook stalking' after a romantic breakup?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

<I>Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking</I>

image: Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with open access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is the official journal of the International Association of CyberPsychology, Training & Rehabilitation. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website. view more 

Credit: ©Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, September 23, 2015--Social networking makes it easy to monitor the status and activities of a former romantic partner, an often unhealthy use of social media known as interpersonal electronic surveillance (IES) or, more commonly, "Facebook stalking." Psychological and relationship factors and how individuals cope with the termination of a romantic relationship can help predict their use of online surveillance, according to a study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website until October 23, 2015.

In the article "Romantic Partner Monitoring after Breakups: Attachment, Dependence, Distress, and Post-Dissolution Online Surveillance via Social Networking Sites," Jesse Fox, PhD, The Ohio State University, Columbus, and Robert S. Tokunaga, PhD, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, report that individuals who were most distressed by a breakup were most likely to monitor their ex-partners online. This behavior could make it more difficult for them to recover. In the study, the authors evaluated associations between factors such as attachment (anxious versus avoidant attachment), investment in the relationship, level of commitment, responsibility for termination of the relationship, emotional distress after the breakup, and seeking relationship alternatives.

"Since stress may trigger problematic internet use, psychologists may wish to assess for increased usage by their patients during periods of stress, such as a relationship's dissolution," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.

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About the Journal

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking) is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with open access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is the official journal of the International Association of CyberPsychology, Training & Rehabilitation. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.


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